The long-awaited refresh of Apple’s most popular desktop Mac was released 1 month ago.
Apple added a new design, new internals, a couple new features, but they also scaled
back on ports. So, how is the new 24” iMac after 1 month?
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Hey, I’m Jerry and the new 24” iMac felt like it was years in the making, and I guess
it probably was for Apple too, but people have been jonesing for it for a while. The
previous design of iMac has been around since 2012 and definitely served it purpose but
lets stay focused on the new one.
The new design is obviously what you will notice first about the new iMacs. From the
moment you pull it out of the box……which…..if you havnt seen my unboxing, the iMac is actually
upside down in the box…..its crazy……it’s a totally different unboxing experience………….but
anyway, this is a crazy thin computer that is kind of mind blowing.
There are plenty of third party displays that are not as thin as this but this display,
with a computer built-in, is only 11.5mm thin. ……….That’s the whole computer….the
display CPU, memory, fans, speakers, camera, and microphones all together and is just barely
thicker than an iPhone 12 Pro inside of an Apple Silicone case. And with the stand the
whole thing is less than 10 pounds. Which can actually be a problem when adjusting the
screen or if you trip on the new magnetic power cord then the iMac will most likely
follow.
This thing is so light and easy to move if you need to but if you accidentally hit or
bump the iMac you can tip it over. It just doesn’t feel as stable as previous iMacs.
But, because of this almost portable design, this can fit pretty much anywhere you need
a desktop computer including those little built in nooks in some houses or apartments.
On the back you get 2 or 4 connection ports, depending on the model you buy, a magnetic
connection for the power cord, and a headphone jack on the left side. There is a camera cutout
just above the display which is wrapped in a white bezel with the speaker and fan grills
on the bottom.
This 24” desktop computer also comes in colors other than gray and silver, as you
can probably see, and when they were announced I said some pretty harsh things about the
design and colors. After a month of having this iMac I can confidently say….that I
would recommend you get the silver model.
Yes the back of this Orange iMac is striking. And when next to the green I drool a little
bit. But, in nearly every case you will have the back of the iMac facing a wall and you
will never see that bright color. Instead, with the orange one, you see this slightly
orange copper-y color on the stand and an even more pale color just below the display.
I wouldn’t say I hate it…but its not a color that works for me.
If you do decide to go with the Orange iMac, or Green, or blue, pink, yellow or purple
then its going to stand out in whatever environment you place it and if you have it for a number
of years it may not always go with the room or decor you choose later. Silver goes with
everything and I think it will stand up better over time
Now, I mentioned the white bezel a moment ago and myself and a lot of other creators
were not happy with the white bezel color because it can have an effect on white balance
when doing color work. I am sure there are a lot of reasons Apple chose white and I know
there are plenty of people that like it. Although I prefer black bezels I can say that in my
use over the last month I have had no issues from the bezels, that I can recall, trying
to verify colors and brightness on this display.
And speaking of the display…it is great. It is the same quality display that you have
come to expect from Apple. Its 4.5k in resolution but at 24” that just equates to the same
pixels per inch as the previous 4k iMac and the current 27 iMac. Heck, even the 32”
pro display XDR has the same 218 PPI so you are getting a nice, crisp, sharp, retina display.
I have pretty much zero complaints with the display on this iMac because besides the sharpness,
its bright at up to 500 nits, its color accurate with p3 wide color, and if you want it, there
is true tone to change the white balance with the lighting in your room. The only thing
this doesn’t have compared to the 2020 27” iMac is HDR compatibility.
Using this display every day is super easy and enjoyable, whether that is watching a
video, playing a casual type game, surfing the web or even more professional work like
editing photos and videos. I prefer a little bit larger display like 27 or 32” but this
24” display can definitely get the job done, and just like with changing phone sizes your
brain catches up and you get used to the size.
Along with the display are some pretty good speakers as well! Apple spent a few minutes
on the iMac announcement talking about the new 6-speaker array inside the new iMacs.
There are a couple of force canceling woofers and a tweeter on each side which give the
iMac a very unexpected amount of bass and clarity. And I have to admit that I do think
that the speakers sound pretty good for the size and the fact they fit in such a thin
case. The woofers are not going to shake your house or anything, in fact you wont feel anything
really from them, but you do get a clear separation between the low and high end of audio and
they sound good. The 27” iMac does get louder and has some more punch, but I think that
the 24” is more clear.
Beyond videos and music, I have been doing a lot of audio calls for work using the iMac
and I have no issues hearing everyone else clearly. I will frequently pace around my
office while on a call and head back to the imac when I need to unmute and that is where
the new studio mics come in. Now, I can’t really say how the mics sound on the other
end of the call, but, since I have started using this iMac for my work calls I have not
had a single instance of people saying that they couldn’t hear me, that I wasn’t clear,
or that I had some kind of echo or distortion. Using previous Macs, iPhones and iPads, it
wasn’t uncommon to get some kind of negative feedback when using them as speaker phones.
That’s a win for me
Now if you do need to engage with others via video chat apple did a major update on the
camera for the new iMacs. Just like with the 2020 iMac there is a 1080P camera built in
but that also uses a new image signal processor built into the M1 Chip, which we will get
to in a moment. The result is probably the best facetime camera experience I have ever
used in a computer. For years the ipad and iPhone have had a much better video call experience
than the Mac and now the new iMac is right on par. Its brighter, sharper, and does a
much better job with colors and grain.
Here is an example of the new Mic and Camera systems in the 24” iMac………
OK, so there is more to talk about with ports, accessories, and processor, but that all depends
on the model of iMac you get.
The base model iMac is going to come with the 8-Core m1 with the 7-core GPU, 8gb of
memory and 256gb of storage and on the back side you will get 2 thunderbolt ports all
for $1299. If you upgrade to the mid-tier you get an M1 with an 8-core GPU, 2 additional
USB-C ports, an ethernet port on the power adapter and touchID on the keyboard for a
total of $1499.
At this point you must be familiar with the M1 Processor…….right?..........you have
to be if you are watching this. Overall the M1 processor performance in this iMac is very
similar to the performance of the other M1 machines. There is a slight graphics performance
difference in the mid-tier iMac with the extra GPU core but other than that they are very
similar compared to each other.
I have been using this mid-tier model for a month and the performance of this machine
is fantastic. Because of the single-core performance that beats almost every other processor, every
little thing you do from opening apps and webpages to scrubbing through video timelines
is fast and fluid. Even on the base model. There are a million videos talking about M1
performance at this point so I will just say the M1 is fast enough for most people for
most tasks. The only issue I see sometimes is a stutter or beach ball if I am editing
a large video with a ton of other apps open which I think may be more related to the amount
of memory. Other than that, the day to day performance just lets you get your stuff done.
Like many people I have concerns about apple removing all the other ports on the back of
the iMac. Most people still have USB-A accessories and now you need a dongle to plug in that
one flash drive you have. And if you have a digital camera, you may need a dongle for
a card reader. If you do go with the upgraded iMac model you will get the ethernet port
on the power adapter, but I do think that it is a mistake and feels really forced for
Apple to limit these ports when the Mac Mini still has them.
Luckily, I think the solution that works for me fits no matter which model you end up getting.
And that is using an external dock or hub like these from CalDigit. With a single cord
you can get back all of the ports Apple removed including USB-A, additional USB-C, card readers,
ethernet and more. You can even connect a second display if you want.
If you need more than the base 256GB of storage but don’t want to pay apple prices, you
can go with an external drive and if you want the fastest storage you should look at a thunderbolt
drive like the 4 I tested in a previous video. Thunderbolt speeds on the m1 processors are
not quite as fast as on Intel Macs as I have shown on previous videos but like with the
M1 its self, its fast enough for almost any need.
The best thing probably about getting the upgraded model or adding to the base model,
is the magic keyboard with touch ID. It’s so nice having that touch id sensor right
there for quick unlock and login, apple pay purchases, and authenticating across the system……Oh,
and it matches the color of your new iMac
If you have used unlock your mac with Apple watch you probably know how unreliable that
is but just like on MacBooks and iOS devices, touch ID is extremely fast and accurate on
the new iMac. As with all apple biometrics, it just feels good and intuitive to use.
if I go back to my 27” iMac I know I will instantly miss it.
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So, after 1 month I am really impressed with the new 24” iMac with M1. It has a nifty
new design that seems impossible, colors if you want, a new keyboard option with touch
id, and fantastic power to get you through anything a regular computer user would need.
This isn’t the pro iMac a lot of people were hoping for in design and power, but it
is a great start and a good indication of what we can expect to come in the next few
months or years…………………. But what do you guys think? Do you like the new
iMacs, or were you expecting something different? Let me know below. If you are trying to decide
between this 24” iMac and the 2020 27” imac check out this video over here. Hit the
thumbs up button if you like, hit subscribe if you want and I’ll see you next time